A Close Shave: Coach Loses It All After Wu Di's Maiden Victory

Coaches of tennis players at all levels often joke that their star pupil has caused them to go gray. Few have had a player cost them their entire head of hair.  

When Wu Di knocked off top seed Kyle Edmund in the final of the Tennis Championships of Maui, he became the first ATP Challenger Tour champion from China. Along with his run through the qualifying draw at the Australian Open, he’s moved back inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, and sits this week at No. 171 in the world. But as the 24-year-old’s ranking soared 66 spots from the beginning of the year, Coach Davide Sanguinetti’s hair count was shaved to zero, quite literally.

“I made a bet with Davide about shaving our hair together after I won my first Challenger title,” Wu told ATPWorldTour.com. “We both take it seriously, but in the last second I flinched. Going bald, it’s something I have never tried before. I feel taking this step is actually harder than winning a Challenger title.”

Sanguinetti, who reached a career high of No. 42 in his professional career, did not shy from the razor. This week, the former Italian star fulfilled his side of the bet. With 10 Challenger titles to his credit, the trim seems a small price to pay for such a monumental moment for his charge. But Wu said he may join his coach at some point this year in the Hair Club for Men.

“I told Davide if I can win another Challenger title this year, I will definitely do it, shaving all my hair,” Wu said. “People told me it’s a good move to change something in your life occasionally. I do hope in the next couple months I can shave my hair.”

Drastic hairstyle changes are not new in the sport. In recent years, many American players have begun wearing mustaches or even unsightly beards to try and change their fortunes, often around the month of “Movember”. And of course, there was the legendary clean look that Novak Djokovic and his Serbian teammates took when shaving their heads as a celebration of their country’s first Davis Cup title in 2010.

Wu played his first Challenger match since the win over Edmund this week in Zhuhai, falling to countryman Ze Zhang in straight sets. With his freshly shorn coach nearby, Wu joked about it on the Chinese social media site Sina Weibo, claiming that he may have lost in the first round because he didn’t keep his promise to Sanguinetti.

The retort from his fan club was simple: “If you lose in the first round again next week, please go and shave your hair like you promised Davide.”

“Right now, I’m just pretending I didn’t read their post,” Wu said. Hopefully, someone in Guangzhou has a razor next week just in case he needs a change in luck. Wu is unseeded in the $50,000 event that starts Monday.